Template fun!

I was needing a change so I switched out our blog template for a new one.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The Halloween pumpkin has left the porch and The Socal Caprons have officially kicked off the Christmas/New Year season!

Wreath for the door - complete
Christmas tree - complete
Christmas cards - compete (except for 1 card and I am still waiting for the address, so technically I am done as completely as I can at this moment)
Christmas shopping - just barely started...

I was looking over some of my previous posts and I saw an entry from the middle of November talking about how I could get a jump start on my Holiday shopping, do it all online and be done before our Thanksgiving turkey was plucked. I, apparently, am a procrastinator. I don't see how is it possible for one to have had more time to finish shopping. Here it is December 13th and I only have a handful of stocking stuffers so far. But choosing a gift can be hard and you (I) can spend a lot of time thinking and thinking trying to come up with just the right one. I know I can finish before Amazon's drop dead date for December 25th delivery. It's just funny how tasks can take just the amount of time you (I) have to complete them.

23 Weeks

According to the ultrasounds we've been having I'm over 23 weeks, but according to my original due date I'm only 22 weeks and I'm not sure which is a better predictor of my due date. Be it 22 or 23 weeks I'm feeling much bigger this time around at this point than I did with Andrew. I think the third trimester belly pics will be quite funny as I begin to be as round as I am tall.

The big news around here is that I have been given the a-okay to start increasing my activity. Which is great news, but when you drill down a little bit, that advice is just a wee bit vague...

"So Leslie, the ultrasounds look about the same, so I think you can start increasing your activity."
"Great, what does that mean?"
"You could go out and do light errands."
"OK, what about work?"
"No, I think you should still take it easy for a while."
"So, no big heavy grocery shopping trips, but say getting my hair done is ok?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right, sorry I can't give you more advice. Call me if you have any cramping/bleeding - see you in a month!"

That's about how the conversation went with my doctor. No one really knows how to treat these darn hematomas. The doctor thinks that since there has been no change for a while the pregnancy is pretty stable and that it will continue to be so. But no guarantees. So as a patient you listen to your doctor and listen to your gut and do what you think is best. The best thing for me is to get out of the house every once in a while but still spend most of my time not moving around too much.

We did get out of the house this weekend and the first thing we did was go to Nick's Deli in Seal Beach and get a couple of the the best breakfast burritos west of the Frontier! We even took a gentle stroll down to the pier. That was enough activity for me though and I spent the rest of the day napping.

I hope week 24 is just as uneventful.

Out-takes

"Do you have his shoes?"
"Shoes - check."
"We've got to hurry, the sun is going to set soon."
"We're fine, we have at least an hour of good light"
"Did you pack both outfits??"
"Yes, both outfits are in the diaper bag"
"This is going to be the best Christmas card photo ever!!"
"Yeah, totally!!"

"...turn around, I forgot the camera."

So that began our quest for a Christmas card photo yesterday. We did eventually make it to the beach before the sun set, with camera in hand. Andrew proved to be a very cooperative model and had a good time...until the costume change, he then decided that he was done. But we did get a few good shots. Here are a couple that didn't make it on the card: